The Ashcombe School

The Ashcombe School is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form located in Dorking in the English county of Surrey.^[1]

The Ashcombe School
Address
Ashcombe Road Dorking , Surrey , RH4 1LY England
Coordinates	51°14′19″N 0°19′46″W
Information
Type	Academy
Established	1976
Trust	South East Surrey Schools Education Trust
Department for Education URN	143901 Tables
Ofsted	Reports
Headteacher	Chris Panting
Gender	Coeducational
Age	11 to 18
Enrolment	1408[1]
Houses	4 (Windsor, Stuart, Tudor, and York)
Colour(s)	Navy blue and red
Website	www.ashcombe.surrey.sch.uk

History

The Ashcombe School was established in 1976, by the merger of Dorking County Grammar School and Mowbray School.^[2] The co-educational Dorking County Grammar School had been founded in 1931 with the Amalgamation of the Dorking High School for Boys (1884–1930)^[3] and St.Martin's Church Of England High School for Girls opened in 1903. Mowbray Secondary Modern School for Girls opened on an adjacent site in 1953. The schools were close enough to share the school kitchen.^[4]

The Ashcombe School became a Specialist Language College in September 1998, allowing it to receive additional funding. It was featured in the Independent and the Guardian as a school that teaches Mandarin.^[5][6]

Previously a community school administered by Surrey County Council, in January 2017 The Ashcombe School converted to academy status. The school is now sponsored by the South East Surrey Schools Education Trust.^[7]

Notable former pupils

Dorking High School for Boys

• James Chuter Ede, Lord Chuter-Ede of Epsom,^[8][9] Labour MP and Home Secretary
• John Gandee,^[10] British diplomat; High Commissioner to Botswana from 1966 to 1969.

Dorking County Grammar School

• William Cole^[11] English conductor, composer and organist. Teacher at Dorking County School 1937-40
• Michael Colborne,^[12] Royal Navy officer and private secretary to Charles, Prince of Wales, and later the Duke of Westminster.
• Patricia Fothergill,^[13] pioneer in robotics and control languages, helped develop the Freddy II robot pioneer in robotics and robot control languages.
• Sir Stephen Lamport,^[14] Receiver General at Westminster Abbey, former diplomat and Deputy Private Secretary to the Prince of Wales.
• Liz Lynne,^[15] Former Liberal Democrat MP and MEP
• Tom Mangold,^[16] award-winning BBC journalist and writer
• Sir Erich Reich,^[17] Kindertransport refugee, Austrian-born entrepreneur and charity fundraiser.

The Ashcombe School

• Evan Davis,^[18] economist and BBC journalist
• Jamie Mackie,^[19] Scotland international footballer
• Rich Good, Musician and co-founder of the band The Pleased, guitarist in the band Psychedelic Furs
• Sarah Ioannides, Classical conductor

References

1. "Edubase: Establishment: The Ashcombe School". Department for Education. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
2. "ADA Membership Brochure". The Ashcombe Dorkinian Association. Archived from the original on 26 March 2012. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
3. Staff registers, Surrey History Centre, National Archives
4. The Ashcombe Dorkinian Association, Newsletter June 2012
5. McCormack, Steve (5 July 2007). "Language of the future: Why Mandarin Chinese is taking off in schools". The Independent. Archived from the original on 9 April 2008. Retrieved 18 April 2008.
6. Cutforth, Sarah (6 April 2004). "The future is ... Mandarin". Education Guardian. Archived from the original on 12 January 2006. Retrieved 18 April 2008.
7. "Three schools join together to become academies". Education Executive. 11 January 2017. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
8. Jeffreys, Kevin, "Ede, James Chuter Chuter-, Baron Chuter-Ede (1882–1965)" Archived 11 May 2021 at the Wayback Machine, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edition, January 2008. Retrieved 19 April 2018 (subscription required)
9. Hart, Stephen (2021). James Chuter Ede: Humane Reformer and Politician. Pen & Sword. ISBN 9781526783721.
10. ‘GANDEE, John Stephen’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2015; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014; online edn, April 2014 accessed 30 March 2015 Archived 11 May 2021 at the Wayback Machine
11. "A tribute to Mac - Roderick McLeod (1956 – 1963)". The Dorkinian. No. 12. Spring 1998.
12. "Michael Colborne, loyal aide to Prince Charles – obituary". The Telegraph. 4 October 2017. Archived from the original on 26 May 2019. Michael Colborner, Loyal aide to Prince Charles.
13. "1954 Dorkinian". The Dorkinian. Ashcombe Dorkinian Association. 1954. Archived from the original on 29 March 2017. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
14. Profile at Glasgow Caledonian University October 2005 Archived 22 June 2006 at the Wayback Machine
15. "Liz Lynne MEP – MEP for the West Midlands". Liberal Democrats. Archived from the original on 22 June 2011. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
16. "Curriculum Vitae". Tom Mangold. Archived from the original on 17 July 2011. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
17. "Kindertransport refugee receives a knighthood". BBC News. 31 December 2009. Archived from the original on 30 December 2018.
18. "Evan Davis to become a permanent presenter on Today". BBC. Archived from the original on 27 January 2009. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
19. Starnes, Anna; van Klavaren, Tom; Fleming, Eleanor (16 January 2021). "26 celebrities who went to school in Surrey". Surrey Live. Retrieved 23 March 2023.